In 2006, the National Conference on Citizenship published Broken Engagement: America's Civic Health Index, documenting steep declines in Americans' civic participation and engagement over thirty years. Those declines were especially pronounced among working-class Americans and high school dropouts, who are almost completely missing from the civic lives of their communities. The story of Broken Engagement reinforced recent books that have found Americans "bowling alone," "amusing themselves to death," "tuning out," "avoiding politics," and favoring "stealth democracy." 1

Our new survey and data collected by the government suggest that there has been no recovery in 2007. In fact, there is evidence of further decline in some indicators, such as trust in other people and levels of charitable contributions. We also know that some of the few hopeful signs we saw emerge after 9/11 and that continued for a number of years, such as a wave of volunteering particularly among young people, have now fallen back to earlier levels. Our civic stocks are low, which is unusual in a time of war.

A closer look, however, gives us a foundation from which to build. This year's report, based on a representative national survey conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of the National Conference on Citizenship, identifies three important points that complicate the story of decline and may stimulate constructive ideas for how to move forward to improve our civic life:

36 Million Americans Form Our Civic Core: Our survey asks individuals about more demanding forms of civic engagement, both online and face- to-face, that have not been measured before in national polls. We find that although most Americans are not deeply involved in civic, community, or political affairs, there is a group of about 15 percent—roughly 36 million people—who participate in impressive ways and stand out as civic leaders. They are well informed, attend public meetings, work together on community problems, are leaders in clubs and associations, attend religious services, vote and volunteer. An overlapping group of about 24 percent of the American population uses online technology quite heavily for civic purposes. These active, well-informed citizens are fairly diverse in terms of race, ethnicity, and political ideology. We want to draw attention to the millions of civic leaders because they deserve recognition and support— and it may be possible to increase their numbers.

More Americans Want More Opportunities to Serve: Although persuasive studies have found relatively low levels of civic interest and commitment in the population as a whole, our survey finds that Americans seek more opportunities to participate. Forty three percent say they would be more involved in their communities if there were more opportunities; 80 percent say it is important for government agencies to give citizens voice; and 53 percent choose as the best way to solve problems a collaboration among citizens, non-profits and government. We want to draw attention to this demand because it could influence public policy. At all levels, government and communities can do more to encourage participation and to work in partnership with civic groups. This hunger for more civic engagement is an encouraging wellspring that we must tap.

The Millennials† Emerge as a Civic Force: The youngest generation of Americans, those born after 1975, has arrived. They are a large group: 66 million people were born after 1975 and are now 15 or older. They are voting at higher rates than their predecessors, Generation X. In some respects, they continue downward trends in civic engagement observed for other generations. For example, they show by far the least trust in their fellow human beings, a crucial aspect of social capital; and they are the least attentive to the news (even online). On the other hand, they have the most positive feelings toward the government, and they are heavily engaged in some aspects of civic life, such as volunteering. They are also the ones who feel they have the fewest opportunities for civic engagement and express the most demand for it. We want to draw attention to the Millennials because they are our future and they express an appetite to become more engaged in civic life.

When we examine civic trends over the last 30 years, we find significant declines in many of those indicators of civic life, including continuing declines through 2007. Looking at our civic stocks in more depth, however, we find causes for optimism in the existence of a large group of Americans who do intensive civic work; a significant appetite for more civic participation; and the emergence of a new group of Americans—the Millennials—who display encouraging signs of interest in civic life. In an effort to build upon this progress, and not simply bemoan the continuing declines in many indicators of our civic health, we report our findings to foster a deeper discussion about the attitudes, activities, policies, and dialogues that can help strengthen the ability of more Americans to participate in the civic life of their communities and country.


† Millennials are citizens born after 1975. See the definition of "Generations" in the glossary.